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Jose Calderon has been around too long that another trip down Point Guard controversy lane -- imaginative as it may be -- isn't going to bother him.

Jose Calderon has shared with or won the full-time job from T.J. Ford, Jarrett Jack, Jerryd Bayless and a handful of others over his eight-year career with the Raptors. (ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

Jose Calderon has been around too long, seen too many guys come and go and has answered the same question so many times that another trip down Point Guard Controversy lane — imaginative as it may be — isn’t going to bother him.

With arrival of a younger point guard in new teammate Kyle Lowry, and the chance Calderon will be asked to come off the bench in his eighth season in the NBA, there is sure to be some segments of the fan base who’ll look for contretemps were none exist.

To Calderon, it’s a fabricated issue that will have no impact on the impending season.

“I don’t know if we have to use that word (controversy) before even training camp,” said Calderon before flatly denying a summer report that he was put out by the acquisition of Lowry and wanted a trade from the only NBA team he’s ever played for. “I think we are just two more players for the Raptors team, we’re going to try to win games for the Raptors.

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“I think it’s just wanting to make a big thing before anything has started. It doesn’t matter, we have to win games, we want to make the playoffs. If he scores 20 points a game, I’ll be happy; it’s helping us win.”

The Lowry-Calderon duo does give the Raptors the luxury of two starting-calibre NBA point guards as they chase the team’s first playoff spot in five seasons.

The gritty Lowry, picked up for a conditional first-round draft pick and Gary Forbes in July, should complement the savvy Calderon perfectly. How the minutes are distributed, or who starts and who comes off the bench, is an issue for coach Dwane Casey and will be determined solely by who works better with whom and in what role.

“Jose’s one of the best,” said Casey. “I know there was a lot of grumbling around but I expect nothing — whether he’s the starter or coming off the bench — no rumblings at all because his heart’s in the right place and he’s going to do the right thing for this team and this organization.”

Casey even held up the notion that both could be on the court at the same time, although with shooting guard DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross in the fold that’s probably not going to be a common occurrence.

“Last year, I watched a lot of tape on Houston and Kyle and also (Goran) Dragic played a lot minutes together and co-existed really well together,” said Casey. “That’s going to be something we’ll look at in training camp because they’re two of our best players, not only just point guards but two of our best players and it’s up to us to make sure we know (in) which situations we can put them on the court together.”

Calderon, who has shared with or won the full-time job from T.J. Ford, Jarrett Jack, Jerryd Bayless and a handful of others over his career, knows the ultimate decision isn’t his.

“This is my eighth season, I always have to compete with another guy, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “I look like always, you have to compete to be starting or if not, at the end of the day, the coach is the one who gives you more or less minutes.

I don’t know what Kyle thinks about it … at the end of the day we have to co-exist if you want to win games.”

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